Adding stuff to the game, for the major-leagues
As suggested by psiberx, the general usage documentation for ArchiveXL will be kept in this wiki for ease of use. You can find the readme on github or check the repository's wiki section.
ArchiveXL (nexus | github) is one of the core frameworks of Cyberpunk 2077 modding. Together with TweakXL, It allows you to add things to the game, such as
world sectors (deletions and additions)
custom lipsync maps
Translations (check #how-does-the-game-assign-display-namesfor a guide)
If you want to look up garment appearance slots: The princess is in another castle. Check Different equipment slots instead.
This page will document how to set item properties via tags & suffixes (the vanilla way), or via dynamic switching (new, cool, version >= 1.5).
Let's dive right in.
When adding items, you will normally offer multiple mesh appearances (variants), for example, the same shirt in black, white, and red. This is what you're modding for, after all: making cool things.
On top of having different colours, you also have different circumstances – for example camera states: not even Johnny Silverhand wears his sunglasses in first person perspective.
CDPR deals with this by using suffixes, which are tedious to use. psiberx has since created a better system (dynamic appearances or conditions), which are much easier to use.
For more detail on this, please see the sub-page ArchiveXL: Suffixes and Substitutions
Tags are a way to add extra information to entities or appearances. They are defined on their own sub-page: ArchiveXL: Tags
If you have ever tried to make ten colour variants of an item for two body genders with four different states of feet, then you're familiar with the struggle. Version 1.5.0 of ArchiveXL solves this problem by introducing dynamic variants, allowing you to define rules to hook up your yaml straight to the mesh entity. picking components and even appearances dynamically.
You can find more detail about this on the sub-page ArchiveXL: Suffixes and Substitutions -> #which-substitutions-exist
For a tutorial about this, check ItemAdditions: Dynamic Appearances
If you are a mod user and want to dynamically recolour an item, check the Recolours and Refits guide -> sub-page Emissive -> #switching-existing-colours
Here's an overview of how the dynamic variants work. By comparison, this is the old diagram. Especially for items with many appearances, the new way is much faster.
Tags are a way to tell Cyberpunk that an item has certain properties and should behave in a certain way. This makes the game apply properties to your items, which can then be utilized by the game and ArchiveXL to
hiding V's junk to stop it from clipping through tight pants (hide_Genitals
)
forcing female V's feet to be flat (force_FlatFeet
)
showing hair while wearing a head item (force_Hair
)
Tags are case-sensitive!
There are a few tags that can be added to the root entity or in the .app file. Here's a list:
This will hide an item under certain conditions. Add the following tag to the root entity:
EmptyAppearance:FPP
You have the following other options to achieve the same end:
force_Hair
By default, head items turn hair invisible. By adding this tag to the root entity, you can override this process.
force_FlatFeet
Only works with a foot item as $base
in the .yaml
: use this if you're making flat shoes and don't want female V's feet to look as if she was wearing heels.
This tag will turn feet invisible for mascV unless the user has switch feet installed. You want to apply this to a conditional appearance in the .app file (&gender=m
)
For this, it is mandatory that you have unique component names. If you include your modder name, it's unlikely that anyone will overwrite them by accident.
PartsOverrides can't un-hide components for you. It can only hide them. If you want to load a different mesh (for example, a de-formed hakama when wearing a kimono or haori), then you're flat out of luck.
By being clever about your submeshes, you can offer different versions of your mesh (cropped! No arms! No legs), and users only need to install an .xl file! No need to have different meshes or even different .archive files.
Add custom tags in your .xl
file (not in your .yaml
!)
Simply add the tag to your appearance's tags array near the bottom of the individual entries.
Published in August 23 by
Published: ??? by Last documented update: Feb 18 2024 by
This page will tell you about tags and how they can be used to influence item behaviour. It also teaches you how can help you conditionally un-hide items.
Tags are used for calculating Garment Support score, see
There is an own page for
Please keep in mind that you need to add those to the 's appearance definition rather than the root or mesh entity.
Tag | Effect |
---|
Tag | Effect |
---|
Check the section below for more tags
The diagrams below are somewhat outdated. Especially the arms information is not accurate. (.)
This only works for legacy ArchiveXL projects. If you're using , please use s in your .app file.
Custom tags let you set from the .xl file without the need of touching either .app or .ent file.
Not convinced? Pity, but if you find a new use case for those things, do !
| Hides an item in the |
| Hides an item in the |
| Hides an item in the |
| Hides an item in the |
| Hides an item in the |
| Hides an item in the |
| Toggles the partial suffix ( |
| Hides hair. |
| Hides genitals in uncensored mode and underware in censored mode. |
| Hides head. |
| Hides the whole torso. |
| Hides lower abdomen. |
| Hides upper abdomen. |
| Hides collar bone area. |
|
| Hides thighs. |
| Hides calves. |
| Hides ankles. |
| Hides feet. |
| Hides the entire legs (including feet) |
Root entity appearance (without dynamic variants) |
| .app path: |
| ArchiveXL will automatically add empty appearances for anything you have not defined |
| no partsValues, no components. Do not do this - use the line above this one instead! |
How suffixes and substitutions work
Published: ??? by manavortex Last documented update: Feb 18 2024 by manavortex
This page will teach you about conditional appearance switching in Cyberpunk and give you an overview of existing suffixes and substitutions.
ArchiveXL did not invent suffixes. In fact, they are CDPR's solution to a problem, and they are annoying to use.
psiberx has found ways to make this less painful. This page documents these ways.
For a hands-on guide to Adding new items, check the corresponding pages under Modding Guides.
Dynamic appearances have their own guide (see ItemAdditions: Dynamic Appearances)
There is an own page for Influencing other items
Sometimes, you want to load different meshes/appearances under different circumstances. Before ArchiveXL 1.5, the only way to do that were suffixes — registering them in the .yaml
, then adding one appearance for each variation in the root entity (so for 2 suffixes, you'd have 4 entries, for 3 suffixes, you'd have 8…).
Since 1.5, psiberx has made it possible to use conditionals via dynamic appearances, which require a lot less of an overhead. (Personally, I've gone from 96 entries in the root entity down to 9!)
But while the solution has changed (and improved), the problems remain and require handling.
To conditionally hide items or parts of items, check Influencing other items or ArchiveXL: Tags (especially the section about #root-entity-tags)
There are two body genders with different proportions, and you can't make them wear the same shirt (at least not without clipping). To solve that, you can do what CDPR did and have one variant per rig.
The suffix for the body is Male
/ Female
, the ArchiveXL string substitution is {gender}
and resolves to m
or w
.
ArchiveXL allows body modders to register a custom body tag, which can then be used for suffixes and for substitutions in dynamic variants. To learn more about this, check ArchiveXL: body mods and refits.
You can check the current foot state by running the following command from CET:
Sometimes, you need to hide parts of the item in first person. – for example helmets, since you don't want to have half a helmet floating in front of your face (unless you consider that immersive; most people don't).
The arm states represent the different cyberware. For example, since you can't hire the forearms for mantis blades, you can roll up the sleeves just for this. The definitions are:
If the arm states aren't working as expected, check if the table above is outdated by comparing the names with the source code.
You can check the current foot state by running the following command from CET:
To achieve gender equality in regard to foot states, you need to use Toggleable Feet. The substitution key for dynamic appearances is feet
.
If the foot states aren't working as expected, check if the table above is outdated by comparing the names with the source code.
You can check the current foot state by running the following command from CET:
For ArchiveXL dynamic item additions, you don't need to bother with suffixes at all – they will have
You can disable suffixes by adding the following line to your .yaml entry:
the base appearance (with no suffix)
the most specific suffix collection it can find
V has a female body gender and you're in photo mode (third person camera). Your base appearance is called appearance_
.
Since 1.8.0, ArchiveXL supports substitutions for #dynamic-appearances. You can use them in two places:
inside mesh entity
components in the fields name
, depotPath
and appearance
in the .app
appearances for the field name
For a tutorial about this, check ItemAdditions: Dynamic Appearances
If you are a mod user and want to dynamically recolour an item, check the Recolours and Refits guide -> sub-page Emissive -> #switching-existing-colours
Any placeholders will be interpolated at run-time (replaced with the correct value for your current state)!
If any of the placeholders aren't working the way you expect them, check if the table below is outdated by referring directly to the source. (Please update the wiki if that happens!)
Substitution will only become active if the property name starts with an asterisk (*
).
For #dynamic-appearances, you can conditionally switch out components or entire appearances by name. You can switch use any of the entries from #which-substitutions-exist
The order works as follows:
Starting with version 1.5, Archive XL supports tags for body mods ! That means, no more compatibility archives, since AXL can simply load different meshes for you…
Body type detection works with simple body replacements and with the character creator extensions (customization system).
Run the following code snippet in CET to see which body type you have installed:
Create an .xl file in your Wolvenkit Project's resources folder
Optional, but recommended: Give it the same name as your Wolvenkit project
Put the following file content:
In any of the files you modded, check your components
:
morphtargetComponent
?Yes:
Add a tag with the exact name of your body in this component's tag array (for our example, NewBody
)
No:
Add a new component (of any type) and give it the following name:
Body:NewBody
If you edit the leg component for female V, you must change both the regular and the flat feet component:
base\characters\common\player_base_bodies\appearances\l0_000_base__full.app
base\characters\common\player_base_bodies\appearances\l0_000_base__cs_flat.app
The files below have been confirmed to work — make the changes stated above to each of them:
Test
If yes, you're good to go!
If no body mod is installed, the value will be base_body
, so make sure to name your files and folders accordingly!
If you're sticking to the classical approach, you need to add the following lines to your .yaml
:
The following body mods support dynamic body switching.
Hides the whole arms, including hands. (There's , you would have to )
.app : change default appearance name
.app : add empty appearance yourself
Camera mode | FPP | substitution |
---|---|---|
Cyberware | Suffix | |
---|---|---|
Character | Footwear | Suffix/Tag | Substitution: feet= |
---|---|---|---|
Suffix | Explanation |
---|---|
full appearance name | |
---|---|
Placeholder | Substitution |
---|---|
Appearance/Component | Priority | Description |
---|---|---|
After packing your project, by running the CET command.
If not and you have used a component, you can check if the component is added to the playerPuppet by checking :
If you're using , you don't need to register a suffix and can simply match or substitute for the body tag:
Now, you can use the suffixes in your just like camera states or body genders:
If you know something that should be on the list, please edit !
As of 18th March 2024, is compatible again with Gymfiend Body Mod.
Use only one main archive! []
Mod | Tag name | substitution value |
---|
First Person Perspective
&FPP
fpp
Third Person Perspective
&TPP
tpp
None
&BaseArms
base_arms
Mantis Blades
&MantisBlades
mantis_blades
Monowire
&Monowire
monowire
Projectile Launcher
&ProjectileLauncher
projectile_launcher
Female
Unequipped
&Flat
flat
Female
Equipped (default)
&Lifted
lifted
Female
Equipped with HighHeels
tag
&HighHeels
high_heels
Female
Equipped with FlatShoes
tag
&FlatShoes
flat_shoes
Male
Any
(empty)
itemsFactoryAppearanceSuffix.Gender
This item is gendered
When resolving the appearance name via rootentity.ent
, the game will look for appearanceName&Female
and appearanceName&Male
.
itemsFactoryAppearanceSuffix.Camera
This item has special rules for first and third person camera
When resolving the appearance name via rootentity.ent
, the game will look for appearanceName&FPP
and appearanceName&TPP
.
itemsFactoryAppearanceSuffix.Partial
If the current item has hide_T1part
part and slot OuterChest
is not hidden, will search rootentity.ent
for&Full
or &Part
itemsFactoryAppearanceSuffix.HairType
Defines how your item will look if a certain hair type is loaded (e.g., hide the back half of a bandana for long hair).
When resolving the appearance name via rootentity.ent
, the game will look for &Short
, &Long
, &Dreads
, &Buzz
, &Bald
appearance_
Found first, then ignored because a more specific appearance exists.
appearance_&Male
appearance_&Male&FPP
appearance_&Male&TPP
Ignored: V's body gender isn't male
appearance_&Female
ignored: a better match exists
appearance_&Female&FPP
ignored: you are not in first person camera
appearance_&Female&TPP
best match! The game will use this one!
{camera}
fpp
or tpp
{gender}
m
or w
{body}
base_body
or body mod name in snake case
{arms}
base_arms
, mantis_blades
, monowire
, projectile_launcher
{feet}
flat
, lifted
, high_heels
, flat_shoes
(empty for mascV!)
{sleeves}
full
, part
{skin_color}
skin color name from customization, e.g. 03_senna
{hair_color}
hair color name from customization. e.g. black_liquorice
my_item!variant&camera=tpp
1
Has the highest priority because it requires a specific variant and one state condition.
my_item!variant
2
Has second priority because it requires a specific variant.
my_item&gender=w&camera=tpp
3
Has third priority because it has two state conditions.
my_item&camera=tpp
4
Has fourth priority because it has one state condition.
my_item
5
Has the lowest priority and will be used when no other elements match the criteria.
Lush |
|
Lush |
|
Ult |
|
RB |
|
EBB |
|
EBBP |
|
EBBRB |
|
EBBPRB |
|
Gymfiend |
|